Originally Posted by
Flasteel
Man, you have analyzed a few things! I think the schedule lays out perfect for us to be honest. Consider...
We get the softest part of our schedule right out of the gates while we start to gel and develop an identity.
By the time we wrap up the season we're going to know exactly who we are and this team will be battle-tested like no other in the league.
There are no games which are to be played west of Tennessee, which given our track record in years past is a serious blessing. I find it ironic that we only have five 1PM games considering this and I'm with you in hating those 4 O'clock starts...I always wind up passed out at 8 from all of the beer consumption.
Everyone in the division has roughly the same schedule. As long as we take care of business against the Rats, Stains, and Bungles, I see no reason why we wouldn't repeat as AFC North champs and we all know once the playoffs begin, anything can happen.
Lastly, the NFL is so unpredictable that it's difficult to tell just how good teams are going to be from one year to the next. When it's all said and done this schedule could wind up being far less brutal than anyone anticipated. There's not a team on that schedule that anyone can say is definitively more talented than the Black-n-Gold, to include the Pasteriks. We have a top-three quarterback and more offensive weaponry than any other team in the league. If the number one defense from '07 shows up to the party I think we all have a very good chance of celebrating a sixth Lombardi. Who knows how it'll all unfold, but there is no doubt that the potential is there to make a run.
I'm not sure if the schedule lays out "perfectly" in my opinion
Fla, but I do welcome a challenge, and am not complaining at all about it in any way... As far as being "battle-tested", that is what scares me the most to be honest with you... We were in the same position going down the stretch last season and laid an egg. Injuries will be critical in this situation once again.
...I never noticed the "west of Tenn" issue... GOOD ONE!!!.... As you said, we do not seem to do well on the west coast... While our two first 1pm games (Hou, Cin) are gonna be set, our last three games of the season are 1pm and are subject to the flex... (Balt, Tenn, Cle)... I doubt the Balt game would change. But possibly the Tenn and more probably the Cle game would be flexed... Leaving us with only 3 or 4 1pm games...
Personally, I think only Cleveland has a schedule like ours.... Baltimore and Cincy seem to be much easier pairings, but that's just me... But you are absolutely right. Anything can, and probably will happen. Teams and circumstances change, so it will invariably change the outlook of our schedule.
My point is nothing more than analyzing the schedule and pointing out any and all factoids and trivia about it, so please add more to the list... Man, I am SO bored at this point of the off-season... I will once again say that I think our December is gonna be rough, and November runs a close second, IMO....
Bookmarks